Beginning of School 2015

Big changes in the air as Hannah starts 6th grade and Sophie braves elementary school without her big sister around.

As a family we went to Sophie's back to school night, where she got to see her classroom, find her desk, and unpack all her supplies. All the girls' desks are in a row since there are only 4 girls in the class and 14 boys!

Hannah also attended a new student orientation prior to the start of school, but parents had a separate session from students so I don't have any photos from that evening.

Last Tuesday was our first day back, a day full of excitement! Don't they look so grown up all of a sudden?

Before starting my full day of teaching, I walked Hannah up to her classroom and watched while she unpacked all her supplies and got settled in her desk. I snapped a few photos of her in the process, as well as one of her and her homeroom teacher Mr. Martin, who was also my 4th grade teacher. It's fun that Hannah gets to have him as a teacher too!

By Wednesday evening we were all tuckered out. Here's hoping we can make it through a five day week this week!

Date Night with Sophia

It is Fair time in Virginia.

This past week, Sophie and I went to the Rockingham County Fair. The attendance to this week long celebration of the agricultural industry is somewhere north of 90,000 people. There are rides, exhibits, animals, tractor pulls, demolition derby, concerts, and food. We started our visit in the cow, goats, sheep, and pig barns taking a look at the prize winning entries.

We then watched the livestock auction where kids Sophie's age raise animals and then show them for sale at this event.

Then it was time for some rides. We started with something a little slower - the teacups.

Next up, we took a rough trip in the helicopter ride and then had a few bumps in the bumper cars.

Sophie next wanted to visit the fun houses - there were two. She went through the one with a house of mirrors multiple times until running into a mirror. She then decided she liked the other one better.

However, the favorite ride was the Ferris wheel.

There was also a roller coaster ride before we took a break for fried chicken and ice cream.

After some dinner, we visited the bunnies - which according to Sophie, were "so cuuuuuttteee."

There was a crane with a flag that caused many questions about how you build a structure so tall. 

The musical group performing in one of the tents was excellent. The banjo player was my favorite.

We then made a return visit to the Ferris Wheel to watch the sunset from the air.

The moon was out and the fair lighting appeared to be a shooting star as we prepared to leave.

On our path out of the fair, we enjoyed a brief magic show. Sophie participated and was thrilled to be the only child able to pull the handkerchief from the bag - proving she was also a magician.

Final stop of the night was the petting zoo. We met Bacon and Pork Rind, baby goats, a donkey, and Llama Llama where is your mama.

It was a fun date night with my youngest angel. 

Science and Fried Chicken

Sunday we took the day to drive to Roanoke to visit Granny since we hadn't spent much time with her recently. The original plan was for her to do the yard crawl with Charles like they've done the last few years, but with Papa gone on a motorcycle trip she didn't want to leave Jaxs in a kennel so she asked us to come visit.

Charles wanted fried chicken to eat for lunch, so we ventured to Thelma's Chicken & Waffles, the top rated chicken shack in Roanoke. None of us had been before, and it did not disappoint. The waffles were delicious, and Charles gave the chicken top marks. Sophie agreed. She ate chicken, waffle, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuit. We had no shortage of food, that's for sure!

Since we were downtown, we decided to see if the science museum was open, and it was! It is located in the Center in the Square, along with a history museum, butterfly garden, planetarium, and rooftop gardens. It really is a cool building. Our tickets today were only good for the science museum; we'll have to try the history floors another day. The photos below show the hands on nature of most all of the exhibits.

Touch tank with hermit crabs, sea stars, and horseshoe crabs

Hannah enjoyed watching this remora for quite some time

Practicing being meteorologists and playing with the green screen

Resulting in the "invisibility cloak" look

A game that uses brainwaves to move a tiny little ball

Huge cast model of a dinosaur skeleton

Hannah wasn't thrilled that I asked her to stick her head in the T. rex's mouth

Playing with the coriolis effect

It's electric!

Nothing says fun like watching coins go round and round

Atop the rooftop garden

There was also a fish pond up there

Me and my honey